"The big problem that is holding back Linux is games. People donít realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior," says Valve's Gabe Newell as quoted on AllThingsD. "We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. Itís a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think weíll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If thatís true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality." Thanks VG247.

Kajetan wrote on Jul 26, 2012, 06:27:W8 is NOT intended as a business OS. Its a quickshot aimed at the tablet market where MS hopes to secure a considerable share by forcing consumers to use Metro.

I guess W9 will have a fully optional UI. Maybe the first service pack for W8 will do that. To save W8 when MS still has the chance to turn things around.

I highly doubt that. They want everyone to go through their store or their cloud apps, including the enterprise. If anything, MAYBE the only OS that will give you a default desktop is Windows X Enterprise, which you will need both a volume license key AND software assurance... which also means you will be paying for an OS twice, since Dell and others can't ship without an OS (other than a few specific models that have Ubuntu).

The other thing that may be being forced, since MS makes even more money... is forcing to virtualize apps with App-V, Citrixt Xenapp, or VMWare ThinApp.... or whole desktops with Citrix Xenapp (Product can to both), Hyper-V, or Vmware vSphere. Either way... MS collects on a Terminal Services license or Software Assurance license for App-V. The beauty of this scenerio though is you don't need to buy a windows PC... you can just buy a linux based thin client like a $300 WYSE terminal or something similar.

Either way... the enterprise is looking at a major cost increase to keep desktops... so, windows 7 will probably be it, until end of life, for most places. (Unless MS miraculously changes it's mind)

"Did you even read cutters post or are you just suffering from rectal cranial inversion." - RedEye9